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This blog was updated on a daily basis for about two years, with those daily entries ceasing on December 31, 2013. The blog is still active, however, and we hope that people stopping in, who find something lacking, will add to the daily entries.

The blog still receives new posts as well, but now it receives them on items of Wyoming history. That has always been a feature of the blog, but Wyoming's history is rich and there are many items that are not fully covered here, if covered at all. Over time, we hope to remedy that.

You can obtain an entire month's listings by hitting on the appropriate month below, or an individual day by hitting on that calendar date.

Monday, December 23, 2013

December 23

1620 One week after the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth harbor in present-day Massachusetts, construction of the first permanent European settlement in New England begins.

Comment: I remain really curious about the timing of this. Why December? Was the
thought that they could get a crop in that Spring,if they hit ground mid
winter?

1776 Thomas Paine wrote The Crisis:

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the
sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their
country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of
man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have
this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more
glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:
it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how
to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if
so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain,
with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right
(not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being
bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as
slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a
power can belong only to God.

Whether the independence of the continent was declared too soon, or
delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an argument; my own
simple opinion is, that had it been eight months earlier, it would have
been much better. We did not make a proper use of last winter, neither
could we, while we were in a dependent state. However, the fault, if it
were one, was all our own;
we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great deal is lost yet. All
that Howe has been doing for this month past, is rather a ravage than a
conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a year ago, would have
quickly repulsed, and which time and a little resolution will soon
recover.

I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret
opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a
people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish,
who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities
of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I
so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished
the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils; and
as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain can look
up to heaven for help against us: a common murderer, a highwayman, or a
house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.

'Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a
country. All nations and ages have been subject to them. Britain has
trembled like an ague at the report of a French fleet of flat-bottomed
boats; and in the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the whole English army,
after ravaging the kingdom of France, was driven back like men
petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few
broken forces collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that
heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her countrymen, and
save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and ravishment! Yet panics,
in some cases, have their uses; they produce as much good as hurt. Their
duration is always short; the mind soon grows through them, and
acquires a firmer habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is,
that they are the touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring
things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever
undiscovered. In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors,
which an imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They
sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public to the
world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall
penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon
the Delaware.

As I was with the troops at Fort Lee, and marched with them to the edge
of Pennsylvania, I am well acquainted with many circumstances, which
those who live at a distance know but little or nothing of. Our
situation there was exceedingly cramped, the place being a narrow neck
of land between the North River and the Hackensack. Our force was
inconsiderable, being not one-fourth so great as Howe could bring
against us. We had no army at hand to have relieved the garrison, had we
shut ourselves up and stood on our defence. Our ammunition, light
artillery, and the best part of our stores, had been removed, on the
apprehension that Howe would endeavor to penetrate the Jerseys, in which
case Fort Lee could be of no use to us; for it must occur to every
thinking man, whether in the army or not, that these kind of field forts
are only for temporary purposes, and last in use no longer than the
enemy directs his force against the particular object which such forts
are raised to defend. Such was our situation and condition at Fort Lee
on the morning of the 20th of November, when an officer arrived with
information that the enemy with 200 boats had landed about seven miles
above; Major General [Nathaniel] Green, who commanded the garrison,
immediately ordered them under arms, and sent express to General
Washington at the town of Hackensack, distant by the way of the ferry =
six miles. Our first object was to secure the bridge over the
Hackensack, which laid up the river between the enemy and us, about six
miles from us, and three from them. General Washington arrived in about
three-quarters of an hour, and marched at the head of the troops towards
the bridge, which place I expected we should have a brush for; however,
they did not choose to dispute it with us, and the greatest part of our
troops went over the bridge, the rest over the ferry, except some which
passed at a mill on a small creek, between the bridge and the ferry,
and made their way through some marshy grounds up to the town of
Hackensack, and there passed the river. We brought off as much baggage
as the wagons could contain, the rest was lost. The simple object was to
bring off the garrison, and march them on till they could be
strengthened by the Jersey or Pennsylvania militia, so as to be enabled
to make a stand. We staid four days at Newark, collected our out-posts
with some of the Jersey militia, and marched out twice to meet the
enemy, on being informed that they were advancing, though our numbers
were greatly inferior to theirs. Howe, in my little opinion, committed a
great error in generalship in not throwing a body of forces off from
Staten Island through Amboy, by which means he might have seized all our
stores at Brunswick, and intercepted our march into Pennsylvania; but
if we believe the power of hell to be limited, we must likewise believe
that their agents are under some providential control.

I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat to
the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both officers and
men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently without rest,
covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences of a long retreat,
bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their wishes centred in
one, which was, that the country would turn out and help them to drive
the enemy back. Voltaire has remarked that King William never appeared
to full advantage but in difficulties and in action; the same remark may
be made on General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a
natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but
which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of fortitude; and I reckon it
among those kind of public blessings, which we do not immediately see,
that God hath blessed him with uninterrupted health, and given him a
mind that can even flourish upon care.
I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on the state
of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following question, Why
is it that the enemy have left the New England provinces, and made
these middle ones the seat of war? The answer is easy: New England is
not infested with Tories, and we are. I have been tender in raising the
cry against these men, and used numberless arguments to show them their
danger, but it will not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or
their baseness. The period is now arrived, in which either they or we
must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a
Tory? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with a hundred
Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt to get into arms.
Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish, self-interested fear is
the foundation of Toryism; and a man under such influence, though he may
be cruel, never can be brave.

But, before the line of irrecoverable separation be drawn between us,
let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an invitation to the
enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has heart enough to join him.
Howe is as much deceived by you as the American cause is injured by you.
He expects you will all take up arms, and flock to his standard, with
muskets on your shoulders. Your opinions are of no use to him, unless
you support him personally, for 'tis soldiers, and not Tories, that he
wants.

I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against
the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, who kept a
tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in
his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after
speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with
this unfatherly expression, "Well! give me peace in my day." Not a man
lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some
time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have
said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may
have peace;" and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to
awaken every man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as
America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world, and she
has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can distinguish himself
between temper and principle, and I am as confident, as I am that God
governs the world, that America will never be happy till she gets clear
of foreign dominion. Wars, without ceasing, will break out till that
period arrives, and the continent must in the end be conqueror; for
though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can
never expire.

America did not, nor does not want force; but she wanted a proper
application of that force. Wisdom is not the purchase of a day, and it
is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off. From an excess
of tenderness, we were unwilling to raise an army, and trusted our
cause to the temporary defence of a well-meaning militia. A summer's
experience has now taught us better; yet with those troops, while they
were collected, we were able to set bounds to the progress of the enemy,
and, thank God! they are again assembling. I always considered militia
as the best troops in the world for a sudden exertion, but they will not
do for a long campaign. Howe, it is probable, will make an attempt on
this city [Philadelphia]; should he fail on this side the Delaware, he
is ruined. If he succeeds, our cause is not ruined. He stakes all on his
side against a part on ours; admitting he succeeds, the consequence
will be, that armies from both ends of the continent will march to
assist their suffering friends in the middle states; for he cannot go
everywhere, it is impossible. I consider Howe as the greatest enemy the
Tories have; he is bringing a war into their country, which, had it not
been for him and partly for themselves, they had been clear of. Should
he now be expelled, I wish with all the devotion of a Christian, that
the names of Whig and Tory may never more be mentioned; but should the
Tories give him encouragement to come, or assistance if he come, I as
sincerely wish that our next year's arms may expel them from the
continent, and the Congress appropriate their possessions to the relief
of those who have suffered in well-doing. A single successful battle
next year will settle the whole. America could carry on a two years' war
by the confiscation of the property of disaffected persons, and be made
happy by their expulsion. Say not that this is revenge, call it rather
the soft resentment of a suffering people, who, having no object in view
but the good of all, have staked their own all upon a seemingly
doubtful event. Yet it is folly to argue against determined hardness;
eloquence may strike the ear, and the language of sorrow draw forth the
tear of compassion, but nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with
prejudice.

Quitting this class of men, I turn with the warm ardor of a friend to
those who have nobly stood, and are yet determined to stand the matter
out: I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that
state, but on every state: up and help us; lay your shoulders to the
wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an
object is at stake. Let it be told to the future world, that in the
depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that
the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to
meet and to repulse it. Say not that thousands are gone, turn out your
tens of thousands; throw not the burden of the day upon Providence, but
"show your faith by your works," that God may bless you. It matters not
where you live, or what rank of life you hold, the evil or the blessing
will reach you all. The far and the near, the home counties and the
back, the rich and the poor, will suffer or rejoice alike. The heart
that feels not now is dead; the blood of his children will curse his
cowardice, who shrinks back at a time when a little might have saved the
whole, and made them happy. I love the man that can smile in trouble,
that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.
'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm,
and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles
unto death. My own line of reasoning is to myself as straight and clear
as a ray of light. Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I
believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think
it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my
property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it,
and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to
suffer it? What signifies it to me, whether he who does it is a king or a
common man; my countryman or not my countryman; whether it be done by
an individual villain, or an army of them? If we reason to the root of
things we shall find no difference; neither can any just cause be
assigned why we should punish in the one case and pardon in the other.
Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I
should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by
swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish,
stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive likewise a horrid
idea in receiving mercy from a being, who at the last day shall be
shrieking to the rocks and mountains to cover him, and fleeing with
terror from the orphan, the widow, and the slain of America.

There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one.
There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which
threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he
succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy
from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where
conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox
is as murderous as the violence of the wolf, and we ought to guard
equally against both. Howe's first object is, partly by threats and
partly by promises, to terrify or seduce the people to deliver up their
arms and receive mercy. The ministry recommended the same plan to Gage,
and this is what the tories call making their peace, "a peace which
passeth all understanding" indeed! A peace which would be the immediate
forerunner of a worse ruin than any we have yet thought of. Ye men of
Pennsylvania, do reason upon these things! Were the back counties to
give up their arms, they would fall an easy prey to the Indians, who are
all armed: this perhaps is what some Tories would not be sorry for.
Were the home counties to deliver up their arms, they would be exposed
to the resentment of the back counties who would then have it in their
power to chastise their defection at pleasure. And were any one state to
give up its arms, that state must be garrisoned by all Howe's army of
Britons and Hessians to preserve it from the anger of the rest. Mutual
fear is the principal link in the chain of mutual love, and woe be to
that state that breaks the compact. Howe is mercifully inviting you to
barbarous destruction, and men must be either rogues or fools that will
not see it. I dwell not upon the vapors of imagination; I bring reason
to your ears, and, in language as plain as A, B, C, hold up truth to
your eyes.

I thank God, that I fear not. I see no real cause for fear. I know our
situation well, and can see the way out of it. While our army was
collected, Howe dared not risk a battle; and it is no credit to him that
he decamped from the White Plains, and waited a mean opportunity to
ravage the defenceless Jerseys; but it is great credit to us, that, with
a handful of men, we sustained an orderly retreat for near an hundred
miles, brought off our ammunition, all our field pieces, the greatest
part of our stores, and had four rivers to pass. None can say that our
retreat was precipitate, for we were near three weeks in performing it,
that the country might have time to come in. Twice we marched back to
meet the enemy, and remained out till dark. The sign of fear was not
seen in our camp, and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected
inhabitants spread false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had
never been ravaged. Once more we are again collected and collecting; our
new army at both ends of the continent is recruiting fast, and we shall
be able to open the next campaign with sixty thousand men, well armed
and clothed. This is our situation, and who will may know it. By
perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by
cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils — a
ravaged country — a depopulated city — habitations without safety, and
slavery without hope — our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses
for Hessians, and a future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall
doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! and if there yet
remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it
unlamented.

1820 Moses Austin arrived in the Mexican territory of Texas seeking to secure permission for 300 families to immigrate there.

1823 The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore was first published, in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

By Clement Clarke Moore

’T WAS the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that ST. NICHOLAS soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle,
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

1869 Louis Riel replaces John Bruce as President of the National Committee of Metis.

1889 A monument was erected in Natrona County Wyoming to S. Morris Waln and C.H. Strong, who had been murdered by their guide while hunting and prospecting in the Spring of 1888. Waln was from Philadelphia, and Strong from New York City, and they hired a guide/cook from Denver. The guide was later tried and convicted in Colorado of horse theft, but was never tried for the Wyoming murders.

1913 The Federal Reserve Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson.

1925 Sultan Ibn Saud of Nejed captures Jiddah. Connection with Wyoming? Ibn Saud founded Saudi Arabia through such conquests, a rare example of a state based so strongly on a ruling family, and a state that has worked, in part, because it possesses a valuable natural resource, petroleum oil. Wyoming had been an oil province since the 1890s, and the Arabian Peninsula was just becoming one. The economic fortunes of Wyoming have been tied to activities in the Middle East ever since that region became a significant oil producer.

1926 1,000 rabbits show near Medicine Bow and sent to Rawlins, Wyoming, to feed the hungry.

1935 5,600 jackrabbits killed in Natrona County in one of the periodic Depression Era rabbit drives that were designed to help feed hungry families. Amongst the numerous natural disasters inflicted on the nation during the Dust Bowl years were plagues of rabbits. Attribution. Wyoming State Historical Society.

1941 American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.
British troops capture Benghazi, Libya. Gen. Douglas MacArthur decides
to withdraw to Bataan. Japanese begin offensive against Rangoon, Burma.
The 440-foot tanker Montebello was sunk off the California coast near
Cambria by a Japanese submarine. The crew of 38 survived and in 1996 it
was found that the 4.1 million gallon cargo of crude oil appeared
intact. A conference of industry and labor officials agrees that there
would be no strikes or lockouts in war industries while World War II
continued.

1944 All horse racing in the US is banned in an effort to save labor.

1973 Larry Larom, founding president of the Dude Ranchers Association, died in Cody.

1991 A magnitude 3.6 earthquake occurred about 70 miles from Sheridan, WY.

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About this Site

This website catalogs, or at least attempts to catalog, Wyoming's history on a day by day basis. As it is in the blog format, each day is represented by an individual daily entry.

As new events are discovered, the old entries will be updated. And, at least for right now, the blog will continue to be updated on a daily basis, even though it has now been in publication for over one year, and there is an entry for every single day of the year. I hope that visitors who find things interesting will note that in the comments, and that those who find errors and omissions, and there will undoubtedly be errors and omissions, will note that also. This site is interactive, and so it can only improve by participation from interested visitors.

It should also be noted that the entries frequently list things that have happened outside of Wyoming. No region's history is isolated, let alone that of a state. Where events are so significant as to have impacted Wyoming, if only indirectly, they are noted.

Finally, from time to time we post an article on a singular topic, rather than on a single day. Those "sidebars" hope to illuminate an interesting or important aspect of Wyoming's history. We hope that people will comment where they find things of interest as well, which will also help more fully develop the rich story of Wyoming's history.